Midnight Haunted

I had a nightmare last night that greatly disturbed me.

There was a man, the icon of masculine beauty. He was adorned in the finest white silks, and he wore angel-feather sleeves. His boots were of gold and silk, and he talked in tongues that made people bow and obey. He was wreathed in an aura of gold that was painful to look at.

We were all there standing before this... thing. He spoke to us, and we all listened. Well, you all listened. I heard the honeyed words, and knew immediately, something was not right. He was building up to something. His fluid, fluttering words became gutteral and clear to me. This was an illusion that everyone was enraptured in. He spoke and you all listened. He ordered and you all obeyed.

And then he said it.
Bow to me. I am your master. I am your lord. I am your beginning and your end.

With that, the illusion shattered before me. Even as all of your knees and foreheads touched the ground, I saw this monstrocity for what he really was.

The angel-wing sleeves were whole angel wings, ripped from the innocent bodies of their bearers. The golden aura was a circle of fire and blood, twisting and twining around the man. His white silks and shoes were covered with blood, and his eyes were windows to terror itself.

I alone was still standing to recognize this monster. I knew the evil that stirred in that bloodstained body, and I knew it recognized me right away.

I knew how it worked. I knew that I would have to rise up to that monster and fight it. But I knew that it would never stain it's hands - those procelain hands - with the dirt of having to deal with me.

No. With a word, you all descended on me. And I awoke.
It's hard to see allies when you know that everyone is human, and only the right words, appearance, and tone are required to take them completely. All I have to offer is the truth, and that has won no wars and made me no friends.

Paranoia, paranoia everyone's coming to get me...